The Afterword

afterwordlogoI was the guest editor for The National Post’s Afterword this week, which meant that I got to write four posts for their blog. I’m a big fan of The Afterword so it was especially exciting for me. I enjoyed writing the essays and reading the comments about them on Twitter. People have been so kind and supportive – I am humbled!

Here are the links to all four posts:

  • What Nobody Tells You – in which I describe the emotional rollercoaster publishing my book has been. It’s funny, because at my launch, Jane, my editor at HarperCollins, said that she read my description of our first meeting and thought: What is she talking about? Apparently, I seemed calm and composed to her. “In fact, I was a little intimidated!” she said. Turns out I underestimated how good I am at putting on a cool façade and hiding the fact that I’m a total mess. That’s kind of reassuring.
  • Torn Between Two Lovers – in which I talk of my journey into writing in English, my second language.
  • What Kind of Jew Are You, Anyway? – in which I write about my Yemeni heritage and Mizrahi identity and the reason I chose to feature Mizrahi characters in The Best Place on Earth.
  • How to Lose Friends and Alienate Readers – in which I speak about my initial reluctance to write about Israel and politics, and the responses I received once I decided to take the plunge.

I also wrote a guest blog post for 49th Shelf this week, On Writing True Stories, where I discuss the line between fiction and nonfiction and my experience writing in both genres.